Anonymous hit US security think-tank

Hacktivist group Anonymous claim they have stolen thousands of emails, passwords and credit car details from Stratfor: a US-based data security firm.

Information at the Austin-based company was unecrypted, meaning obtaining the information was a simple operation. Rather troubling since Stratfor's clients include the likes of the US defence department, Apple inc., various law enforcement agencies and media organisations. The firm has since suspended all operations on their servers.

In a release from Anonymous, they claim this to be the beginning of a set of attacks to "end 2011 with a bang."

That’s not all folks. 0h hell n0. Tomorrow, we will be dropping another enormous dump on our next target: the entire customer database from an online military and law enforcement supply store.

To add a further layer of convolution to this story, a second release has been identified, which categorically denies Anonymous' responsibility in the takedown of Stratfor. In what's been called an 'Emergency Christmas Anonymous Press Release,' denials to allegations of partakings in the hacking have been made, saying that it's a second set of hackers who have created the story and baited a few key members of anonymous into it.

Stratfor is an open source intelligence agency, publishing daily reports on data collected from the open internet. Hackers claiming to be Anonymous have distorted this truth in order to further their hidden agenda, and some Anons have taken the bait.

So the second release, nicely titled 'Merry Lulzxmas,' discusses the original Emergency Release, claiming that it is a fake that capitalises on the decentralisation and...well...anonymity of Anonymous that people want to find out so much about.

We are aware that there has been some confusion as to whether the STRATFOR hack is an "official" Anonymous operation, due to a ridiculous "Emergency Anonymous Press Statement" being circulated, undermining our work while also making baseless accusations that we frequently see perpetrated by agent provocateurs.

Whichever perspective people hold on this situation, the one thing that's for sure is that it's put the computer-based culture jammers at the forefront of public discussion again.

“You mess with our children, you mess with us” was the statement coming from hacktivist group Anonymous in order to signify its intentions to begin a campaign to name and shame suspected paedophiles that use Twitter to prey on underage children.

Anonymous conquest against Zetas called off as member is freed

After a tense week for the Mexican Zeta drug cartel (and their of 'associates' ranging from policemen to politicians), the fellow member of Hacktivist group, Anonymous has been released, and the threats to expose the cartel have been called to an end.

So Megaupload has been in and about the news, since the odd promotional music video, starring artists who said they have nothing to do with the video (making for a paradox of sorts). Things got more serious for the company and it's founder, Kim Dotcom, after the United States Justice Department filed charges against the site and had the man at Dotcom arrested.

Anonymous Intercept Phone Call Between FBI And Scotland Yard

Hacktivist group Anonymous have released a recording of a telephone conversation between the FBI and Scotland Yard, in which they discuss ongoing investigations into activities surrounding the aforementioned hacking network.